Apparatus for producing medicated bird food



Aug. 2 1964 w. ODENWALD ETAL APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MEDICATED BIRD FOOD 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 18, 1958 INVENTORS WILLIAM ODENWALD GABRIEL APPLEMAN WALTER L. HARDY ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 w. ODENWALD ETAL 3,146,129

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MEDICATED BIRD FOOD Original Filed Sept. 18, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 I INVENTORS 7 WILLIAM ODENWALD GABRIEL APPLEMAN WALTER L. HARDY ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,146,129 APPARATUS FDR PRGDUCING MEDICATED am!) FSOD William Gdenwald, Eiizaheth, NJ and Gabriel Appleman, Fiushing, and Walter L. Hardy, New York, N.Y., assignors to Hertz Monntain Products Corp, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application Sept. 18, 1958, Ser. No. 761,819, now Patent No. 3,080,285, dated Mar. 5, 1963. Divided and this appiication Oct. 3, N62, Ser. No. 232,;19

Ciaims. (Cl. Hit-75) This invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of bird food, and is particularly directed to the medicated coating of bird seed, this application being a division of Patent No. 3,080,285.

For the maintenance of the health of certain birds, such as parakeets and other caged birds, the treatment by internal doses of aureomycin is generally indicated. To make such mediations palatable it has heretofore been attempted to admix particles of dried aureomycin with millet. Such attempts have not proved successful inasmuch as the resulting product was an aggregate of crushed seeds and separate particles of dried aureomycin, and did not prove palatable to birds. The apparatus of our invention accordingly has for one of its objectives the production of millet effectively coated with a selected medication, such as aureomycin, thereby eliminating the presence of independent aureomycin particles, and making the coated product palatable and medically potent.

In the above-referred-to aspect of our invention it is a further object to apply a medicated coating in such a manner that the finished product not only has a predetermined potency, but also possesses such physical characteristics that the coating firmly grips the millet, whereby the danger of a peeling or separation of the coating is obviated.

A further object of our invention is to provide a continuous millet-treating apparatus, whereby millet will be operatively coated with a predetermined amount of the antibiotic for optimum potency, and with minimum variations in the antibiotic levels of the finished product.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings,

FIGS. 1A and 1B together constitute a schematic partsectional, part-elevational view showing the apparatus employed in this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the hulling, shell scarifying and fragmenting device employed in this invention, the section being taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a section of FIG. 2 taken along line 33.

FIG. 4 is a section of FIG. 2 taken along line 44.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section of FIG. 4 taken along line 55.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the dewatering screen member employed in this invention, the section being taken substantially along line 66 of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on line 77 of FIG. 6 of a fragment of the dewatering screen and coacting transverse intercepting bar, showing the movement of seeds during the operative vibratory movement of the screen.

FIG. 8 is a sectional plan view of the oven apparatus and associated parts of this invention, the doors being shown in open position, the section being taken substantially along line 8-8 of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional View of FIG. 8 taken substantially along line 99.

3,146,129 Patented Aug. 25, 1964 The apparatus of our invention illustrated employed a huller and seeder, generally designated 35, containing a hopper 36 adapted to receive continuous charges of millet seed. This hopper connects with an annular Wall 37 therebelow which leads into the hulling chamber 38. Disposed within said latter chamber is the centrifugal seed ejecting Wheel 39 fixedly mounted on the vertical shaft 43 the upper portion of which extends into the central hub member 41 the lower portion of which is recessed to serve as a bearing for the upper terminal of said shaft 40. The bottom of said shaft is attached to the pulley 42 operated by the belt 43 connected to a motor not shown. The said hub member 41 is supported by the four arms 44 connected to the inner surface of said annular wall 37, as illustrated in FIGS; 2 and 3. Extending upwardly from the top of said hub member 41 is the stud 45 the shank 46 of which is in threaded engagement with the deflecting plate 47. It will be noted that the said annular wall 37 is of substantially conical configuration, providing a downwardly extending passageway of progressively decreasing cross-sectional area. The said deflecting plate 47 is rotatably manipulated about the said threaded shank of the stud 45 until the periphery 48 thereof is at a predetermined distance from the conical annular wall, thereby providing an annular passageway 49 through which the seeds will gradually pass downwardly into the hulling chamber.

The said wheel 39, in the particular form illustrated, comprises a flat base St) the peripheral portion of which supports the upwardly extending rods 51 arranged in circular formation, the peripheral ring 52 being mounted upon said rods, thereby providing an upper opening 52. Secured to the upper inner surface of said hulling chamber 39 is the annular impact wall 53 made of yieldable material, such as rubber, said wall having an inner conical surface 54 enveloping said wheel 39 and in spaced relation thereto.

In employing the apparatus of this invention, continuous batches of millet seed are charged into the hopper 36 and, after passing through the peripheral passageway 49, pass downwardly gravitationally, to be deposited upon the base of wheel 39. Said wheel is caused to rotate, as aforesaid, at a predetermined speed, so that the seeds within the rotating wheel are caused to be flung outwardly, by centrifugal force, through the spaces 55 between said vertical rods and into impact engagement with the conical surface 54 of said yieldable wall 53. The force of impact is predetermined to be such as not only to cause a crushing of the outer hulls but also a scarification of the shell of the seed proper, to cause fissures and breaks therein.

The seeds and broken hulls and shells are then drawn out, by suction means to be hereinbelow described, through the outlet 56 at the bottom of the hulling chamber 38. As will be seen from FIG. 1A, a discharge duct 57 conducts the seeds and hulls and broken shells into the separating device generally designated 58. This device includes a receptacle 59 which communicates with said duct 57, so that fragmented portions of hulls and shells and inner seeds are received thereby. Said receptacle 59 contains a chute 60 and an oppositely disposed baflie 61, there being a guiding wheel 62, connected to driving means not shown, for directing the shells and seeds downwardly on to the perforated screen 63, said screen having a mesh of predetermined proportions so as to retain thereon the inner seeds and to permit smaller fragments of hulls and shells to pass therethrough to the chute 64 therebelow, the latter leading into discharge outlet 65 where said fragmented hulls and other small particles are withdrawn gravitationally, or by any other method known to those skilled in the art.

The said screen 63 is inclined so as to permit the seeds and any large hull fragments thereon to gravitationally move downwardly towards an outlet chute 66. In the particular construction illustrated, a duct 67 communicates with the discharge region 68 of the inclined screen 63, said duct communicating with the exhaust fan 69 mounted in the top portion of the casing 70 constituting part of the separating device 58. The arrangement is such that the lighter hull and shell fragments in said discharge region will be drawn up by the action of said fan into the duct 71 and the collector duct 72. the latter also being connected to a duct 73 which extends into the top of the receptacle 59 so that relatively light hull and shell frag ments will also be drawn up outwardly through collector 72.

The exhaust fan 69 is operated so as to be effective in withdrawing only the lighter fragments of broken hulls and shells, whereby the heavier inner seeds are continuously directed to the said chute 66 which leads into the elevator apparatus generally designated 74, the particular form thereof illustrated having upper and lower pulleys 75 and 76 upon which is mounted the continuous chain member 77 having thereon a plurality of buckets 78. The said chute 66 directs the seeds into the path of said buckets 78 as they are moving upwardly towards a discharge point, the downwardly moving buckets being positioned to scoop up any accumulations of seeds within the bottom of the elevator apparatus 74.

The dehulled seeds are carried upwardly by the said buckets 78 to the hopper 79 at the entrance of the short screw conveyor device 80. In the particular form illustrated, this contains an outer casing 81 and an internal screw member 82 which advances the seeds to the discharge end 83 of said device 80, wherefrom it is deposited, through the connecting channel 84, into the treating and tumbling trough 85. This trough is tilted upwardly from the inlet terminal 86 to the discharge end 87, and is kept filled with the treating solution 88. The supply source for such treating solution is the tank 89, there being a pump 90 connecting the discharge pipe 91 from the tank 89 to the supply pipe 92 operatively connected to the trough at 93. In the preferred arrangement illustrated, the uppermost level of the fluid is such that it will not flow out of the discharge end 87 of the trough, except by the positive sweeping action of the advancing seeds.

Disposed within the trough 85 is the screw treater conveyor 94 of conventional construction, this being immersed within the solution 88. The arrangement is such that the seeds entering inlet end 86 of the trough are carried forward by the operative rotation of the screw member 94, and are also tumbled and agitated by the action of said screw member, causing a thorough soaking of the seeds by the time they have traversed the path from the inlet portion 86 of the trough to the outlet portion 87. When the seeds reach the region of said outlet portion, they sweep the solution before them to- Wards the outlet end 87. Due to the tilt of the trough, the portions of the solution in front of the advancing seeds bear gravitationally down upon them, whereby a further effective penetration of fluid into the fissures and absorbent portions of the seeds is effected.

The continued operative rotation of the screw member 94 causes the soaked seeds to be ejected from the outlet end 87 of the trough onto the dewatering screen member 95, causing portions of the solution to spill over and onto and through the perforated screen 96 of said screen member. The said dewatering screen member 95 is mounted upon the four springs 97 which in turn are supported by the stationary structure 98. The screen member contains the frame portion 99 which has at the upper portion thereof the two laterally opposite bearings 160 and 101 which support the opposite shaft extensions 102 and 193 of the eccentric member generally designated 104. The shaft extension 103 is connected to and supports the pulley 105 the belt 196 of which is operatively connected to a motor not shown. Disposed between the tinuous advancing movements of said seeds.

said shaft extensions 192 and 193 is the eccentrically positioned cylindrical weighted member 107, the entire eccentric member being encased within the housing 168.

The arrangement is hence such that upon an operative rotation of the pulley 105, the eccentric member 104 will be caused to rotate, the eccentrically disposed weighted portion 107 causing a vibratory action of the entire springmounted dewatering screen member 95.

It is to be noted that since the weighted eccentric member 107 rotates in an orbit eccentric with respect to the shaft extensions 192 and 103, the operative movement of the entire screen member will follow a substantially similar orbital path. In other Words, since the orbital path of said weighted member 107 is essentially upwardly, forwardly, downwardly and rearwarclly, with the stroke in each direction dependent upon the eccentricity of said eccentric member, the entire dewatering screen member 95, including the screen floor 96 thereof, will also move upwardly, forwardly, downwardly and rearwardly.

Because of the orbital vibratory path above described, and the downward tilt of screen floor 96, it is evident that the individual seed, as well as clusters of seeds, will also be thrown upwardly and forwardly during the operative vibration motion of member 95, thereby causing con- With each said movement of the seeds a drainage of the soaked seeds resultsto the extent that there are exposed surfaces of the individual seeds permitting such a drainage. To enhance the dewatering action, transverse bars 199 are attached to the lateral sides 99a and 99b of the dewatering member, the bottom of each of said bars being slightly spaced above the screen floor 96 of said dewatering member. In the particular form illustrated, the said floor 96 is slightly convex in configuration, having a raised medial crown thereon. The construction is such as to provide the medial space 110 and the lateral spaces 111 between the bottom of the bars and the screen floor.

In the operation of this structure, individual seeds or clusters of seed behind said bars are operatively thrown forwardly towards each bar (see FIG. 7), some of the seeds and clusters coming into contact with the body of the bar, other seeds being thrown over the bar, and others moving, in single layer formation, under the bar through the said spaces 110 and 111. The arrangement is such that on the screen floor in front of the bars the seeds are thinly spread out, exposing considerable areas thereof for effective drainage through the meshwork of the screen floor 96.

From the said dewatering screen 95 the partially dewatered seeds are discharged upon the slow-moving belt 112 which leads into the oven 113, to be hereinbelow described. Positioned above the oven belt 112, and extending laterally outwardly from substantially the central portion thereof, are the two transverse continuous belts 114 and 115, these belts being operated through the motor 116 and transmission mechanism generally designated 117. In the embodiment illustrated, the motor and part of the transmission mechanism are shown supported upon the platform 137, the transverse belts 114 and being rotatably connected to the horizontal supporting structure generally designated 138both members 137 and 138 being mounted on the posts 139. The particular constructions of the belts 114 and 115, the transmission mechanism 117, and the members 137, 138 and 139 are not shown, since they are known to those skilled in the art, and further since a description thereof is not necessary for an understanding of the present invention.

The operative movements of said transverse belts 114 and 115 are such that the respective lower portions 118 and 119 thereof, spaced above the belt 112, are in opposite laterally opposite directions. Said transverse belts carry thereon seed-sweeping members 120, the lower terminals of which are spaced sufliciently above the belt 112 to cause an engagement thereof with seeds being conveyed towards the oven 113', such engagement being effective in causing a lateral spreading of said seeds on the belt 112. It will be noted that the seeds approaching the belts 114 and 115 are diverted laterally by the medially disposed guard member 140. The seeds are operatively moved towards the rear wall 121 of the oven, the bottom edge 122 of said wall being spaced slightly above the conveyor belt 112 to permit a thin layer of seed to move under the wall and into the first chamber 123 of the heating unit 113.

Disposed forwardly of the said rear wall 121 of the oven are the two laterally spaced rakes 124 and 125, the tines 126 thereof serving to break up any remaining clusters of seeds that are conveyed by belt 112, thereby separating the seeds to expose as much as possible of their surfaces to the drying action of the circulating air within the oven. There are three other oven compartments 127, 128 and 129 separated by the respective walls 130, 131 and 132, the bottoms 133 of each of these walls being slightly spaced above the conveyor belt 112 so as to permit the entry of only a thin layer of seed exposed to the drying atmosphere.

In the form above illustrated, there are the blowers 134 which, in well-known manner, supply the drying air for the seeds advancing forwardly within the oven. The oven heating means are not shown, since they are wellknown to those skilled in the art.

To expose the seeds individually to maximum drying effects of the circulating heated air within the oven, a plurality of bars 135, preferably of V-shaped formation as illustrated, rest transversely upon the moving belt 112, these being attached to chains 136 which are themselves anchored to the walls of the oven. The arrangement is such that as the belt carries the seed forwardly, they will engage and climb over these bars, or be distributed laterally thereby, some seeds actually moving under the slightly vibrating bars-the said bars creating a tumbling and dispersing action of the seeds, thereby effectively exposing them to the action of the drying air. It is evident that the bars are maintained in slight motion by the movement of the conveyor belt 112, such motion being sufi'icient to aid in the said tumbling action and in the breaking up of seed clusters in the manner described. It is noteworthy that since the bars are not firmly secured in place, their action is yieldable with respect to any seeds that happen to pass underneath them, whereby the danger of a crushing or mutilation of the seeds is obviated.

As hereinabove stated, it has been found that under the heating action of the oven, the exposed surfaces of the inner core of the seed become sufficiently softened to cause a mucilaginous adhesion of such surfaces with the dried coating.

After the dried and heated seeds pass compartment 129 of the oven, they are discharged upon a discharge belt (not shown) which conveys them to a cooling belt for transmission to suitable packaging apparatus. The cooling and packaging mechanisms are not herein described, since they may be of any construction well-known to those skilled in the art.

By the specific apparatus above described, there is effected a continuous hulling, shell fragmentation, abrading and cracking action of the seeds, a soaking of the seeds, then dewatering, drying and cooling thereof to create a final permanently coated product of uniform potency.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by way of example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or manner of practicing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

We claim:

*1. In an apparatus for medically treating a continuous supply of bird seed of the type having an outer hull and an inner seed comprising a liquid-pervious core encased within a shell, shell scarifying and fragmenting means, a treating and tumbling trough extending along a forwardly and upwardly inclined path, conveying means operatively disposed between the said scarifying and fragmenting means and the said trough, said trough being adapted to contain therein a selected medicated solution, a screw conveyor extending longitudinally within said trough, a discharge outlet at the forward end of said trough, dewatering means disposed operatively below said outlet and comprising a spring-mounted framework, a forwardly and downwardly inclined screen floor therein, vibrating means operatively connected with said framework, the forward end of said dewatering means constituting the discharge end thereof, a conveyor belt operatively positioned below said discharge end, an oven disposed over said belt, and seed spreading means disposed over said belt.

2. In an apparatus for drying a supply of previously treated wet seeds, the combination of a dewatering device for said seeds, a drying oven and a conveyor belt operatively disposed therebetween, said conveyor belt having a portion thereof disposed rearwardly of said oven and a forwardly disposed portion operatively passing through said oven, and seed spreader means over said rearwardly disposed portion of said conveyor belt, said spreader means comprising a spreader belt moving in an angular direction with respect to the longitudinal movement of said conveyor belt and having thereon seed-sweeping elements operatively movable along a path in proximate relation to said conveyor belt, whereby seeds operatively disposed on said latter belt will be engaged by said moving seed-sweeping elements and spread in a generally lateral direction.

3. In an apparatus for drying a supply of previously treated wet seeds, the combination of a dewatering device for said seeds, a drying oven and a conveyor belt operatively disposed therebetween, said conveyor belt having a portion thereof disposed rearwardly of said oven and a forwardly disposed portion operatively passing through said oven, and seed spreader means over said rearwardly disposed portion of said conveyor belt, said spreader means comprising two transverse belts extending laterally outwardly in opposite directions from substantially the medial portion of said conveyor belt, each of said transverse belts carrying thereon seed-sweeping elements operatively movable along a path in proximate relation to said conveyor belt, whereby seeds operatively disposed on said latter belt will be engaged by said moving seed-sweeping elements and spread in a generally lateral direction.

4. In an apparatus for drying a supply of previously treated wet seeds, the combination of a dewatering device for said seeds, a drying oven and a conveyor belt operatively disposed therebetween, said conveyor belt operatively passing through said oven, a transverse bar in said oven resting upon said belt, and means holding said bar against forward movement beyond a predetermined position, whereby said bar will be in slidable engagement with said belt during the latters operative movement, thereby to effect a tumbling action of the seeds operatively coming into engagement with the bar during the forward movement of the belt.

5. In an apparatus for drying a supply of previously treated wet seeds, the combination of a dewatering device for said seeds, a drying oven and a conveyor belt operatively disposed therebetween, said conveyor belt operatively passing through said oven, a rake within said oven disposed over said belt and positioned so as to engage the seeds operatively conveyed thereby, a transverse bar in said oven resting upon said belt, and holding means anchored to said oven and connected to said bar to hold the bar against forward movement beyond a predetermined position, whereby said bar will be in slidable engagement with said belt during the latters operative movement, thereby to effect a tumbling action of the seeds operatively coming 7 8 into engagement with the bar during the forward move- 248,786 Parker et a1. Oct. 25, 1881 ment of the belt. 1,052,390 Turner Feb. 4, 1913 References Cited in the file of this patent 1,207,512 Dickson 5, 1916 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,244,542 Provost Oct. 30, 1917 2,457,018 Wantling Dec. 21, 1948 231,384 wlesebrock Aug. 7, 1880 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR MEDICALLY TREATING A CONTINUOUS SUPPLY OF BIRD SEED OF THE TYPE HAVING AN OUTER HULL AND AN INNER SEED COMPRISING A LIQUID-PERVIOUS CORE ENCASED WITHIN A SHELL, SHELL SCARIFYING AND FRAGMENTING MEANS, A TREATING AND TUMBLING TROUGH EXTENDING ALONG A FORWARDLY AND UPWARDLY INCLINED PATH, CONVEYING MEANS OPERATIVELY DISPOSED BETWEEN THE SAID SCARIFYING AND FRAGMENTING MEANS AND THE SAID TROUGH, SAID TROUGH BEING ADAPTED TO CONTAIN THEREIN A SELECTED MEDICATED SOLUTION, A SCREW CONVEYOR EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY WITHIN SAID TROUGH, A DISCHARGE OUTLET AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID TROUGH, DEWATERING MEANS DISPOSED OPERATIVELY BELOW SAID OUTLET AND COMPRISING A SPRING-MOUNTED FRAMEWORK, A FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY INCLINED SCREEN FLOOR THEREIN, VIBRATING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID FRAMEWORK, THE FORWARD END OF SAID DEWATERING MEANS CONSTITUTING THE DISCHARGE END THEREOF, A CONVEYOR BELT OPERATIVELY POSITIONED BELOW SAID DISCHARGE END, AND OVEN DISPOSED OVER SAID BELT, AND SEED SPREADING MEANS DISPOSED OVER SAID BELT. 